Lighting fixture

ABSTRACT

A lighting fixture for producing a flamelike flickering light. A bulb in a light socket is surrounded by an opaque hollow tube for causing air to flow upwardly over the light bulb. A bladed rotor is rotatably mounted on the hollow tube above the light bulb, and an external tube of semitransparent material surrounds the upper end of the hollow tube and extends substantially vertically upwardly therefrom. The sides of the external tube are bent zigzag along vertical folds.

United States Patent Inventors Bunitu Yamamoto, 1-34, Wagatsuma-cho,

Hirohata-ku, Himeji-shi, Hyogo-ken; Yoshikei Murakami. 892, Nishiitamochi, Tondahayashi-shi, Osaka-fu, both of, Japan Appl. No. 758,015

Filed Sept. 6, 1968 Patented June 15, 1971 1,671,071 5/1928 GritLl 240/10.1X 1,721,540 7/1929 Zuleger. 240/108 1,843,279 2/1932 Gritt 240/l0.l 1,865,758 7/1932 Horton 240/10.l X 1,878,750 9/1932 Adams 240/10.1 X 2,293,185 8/1942 Wolfson 240/10.1 2,408,594 10/1946 Bartha 240/108 2,600,664 6/1952 Leech 240/l0.1 3,393,310 7/1968 Ream 240/10 Primary Examiner-Samuel S. Matthews Assistant Exam inerAlan Mathews Attorney-Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack ABSTRACT: A lighting fixture for producing a flamelike flickering light. A bulb in a light socket is surrounded by an opaque hollow tube for causing air to flow upwardly over the light bulb. A bladed rotor is rotatably mounted on the hollow tube above the light bulb, and an external tube of semitransparent material surrounds the upper end of the hollow tube and extends substantially vertically upwardly therefrom. The sides of the external tube are bent zigzag along vertical folds.

PATENTEDJum 5|97| I 3,5 5,379 sum 2 or 3 Fig.2. 30

BUNI'IU YAMAMO'IO AND YOSHIKEI MURAKAMI, inventors;

BY, (1,14% 1 m,

A'm'bRmsYs PATENTEDJUNISIBYI $585,379 sumanrs BUNITU YAMAMOTO AND YOSUIKEI MURAKAMI, inventors JJMAZZZAJ ATTORNEYS LIGHTING FIXTURE This invention relates to a lighting fixture wherein an electric bulb is used, more particularly to a lighting fixture wherein the projection of the light of the electric bulb provided inside thereof produces an image as if flames are flickering on the external tube. v

It is common to the conventional lighting fixtures that the light of the electric bulb provided inside thereof is stationary. The first object of the invention consists in obtaining an extremely refined effect of illumination quite different from the conventional lighting fixtures by giving movement to the light emanating from the stationary electric bulb.

The second object of the invention consists in the fact that no special driving equipment, such as an electric motor and the like, is required to cause the foregoing movement of the light. The third object of the invention consists in giving a very intricate variety to the moving light by projecting the said moving light from inside the external tube which is bent in zigzag. I

The foregoing objects are achievable by a combination of I each part constituting the invention and the effect thereof.

The preferred embodiments of the invention will be clarified by the detailed description set forth hereinunder with reference to the accompanying drawing. Modifications and transformations as regard to the details of the structure are to be included in the claims which will appear hereinafter.

The invention comprises a stay on which an electric bulb is mounted, a runner which is revolvably pivoted above the said electric bulb and gyrated by the ascending air owing to the heat developed by the electric bulb, and a semitransparent external tube which receives and projects outward the light emanating from the electric bulb and passing through the runner.

FIG. I is an oblique view of the lighting fixture of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a lateral view of a longitudinal section of the lighting fixture of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross section taken approximately on the line 1- 2 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the lower frame only of the lighting fixture of the invention, illustrating the relation between the air passage and the shutter;

FIG. 5 is an oblique view of the cover with which to cover the electric bulb, a part thereof being omitted.

The lighting fixture of the invention consists of a stay 12 in the inside of which is fixed an electric bulb 11, a runner l3 revolvably provided at the upper part thereof, and an external tube 14 of semitransparent material which is provided on the I stay 12. The stay 12 is provided on the bottom of the lower frame 15, the said lower frame 15 having an air passage 16 at the center thereof. The lower frame 15 is sustained by legs 18 with appropriate spacing on a dish-shaped receiver 17 which is located further below, the said receiver 17 being fixed to an arm 19, a fixing plate 20 being provided at the base of the arm 19, the said fixing plate 20 being fixed to a post or the wall of the room with boltsor the like. As is explicit from the bottom view of the lower frame 15 illustrated by FIG. 4, on the lower surface of the-lower frame 15 a shutter 21 facing the lower part of the air passage 16 is pivoted revolvably in the horizontal direction centering on the axis 22, a handle 38 which is integrally formed with the shutter 21 being caused to protrude outward from an oblong hole 39 provided on the periphery of the receiver 17, so that the aperture of the air passage 16 can be controlled by the revolution of the shutter 21 by means of wire can be arranged through the air passage 16, a stopper 40' enting the shutter 38 from narrowing the air passage any further. Onto the lower frame 15 is fixed an upper frame 24 with bolts. Inside the said upper frame 24 is fixed a runner fixing tube 25 by means of bolts. Upper and lower bearings 27 I are mounted on the said fixing tube 25 with several slender arms 26, the upper and lower ends of the axis 28 of the runner 13 being borne by the said bearings 27. It is advisable to employ pivot bearings for the said bearing parts with the aim of minimizing. the resistance. The upper frame 24 is provided with a large number of windows, rings 29 of beautifully colored semitransparent synthetic resin or the like being fitted to the inside of the frame 24. The external tube 14 consists of white or colored semitransparent material, the external tube 14 being folded in zigzag as indicated by the cross section thereof in FIG. 3, a translucent white disc 30 of being fitted to the open 'end of the external tube 14. The numeral 31 designates a fixing table on which to mount the external tube 14, the upper surface thereof being provided with a zigzag ridge 32 corresponding to the inside of the lower terminal face of the external tube 14, a tube 33 open at both ends being formed in the center of the said fixing table. The lower part of the external tube 14 is fitted to the outside of the ridge 32, the said two members 14, 32 being fixed together with adhesive agent, the said fixing table 31 being placed on the upper frame 24 and fixed thereto with screws. To the outside of the base of the external tube 14 is fitted a short decoration ring 34 which is made of the same material as the external tube 14 and is bent in zigzag identical with the external tube 14. All the foregoing lower frame 15, dish-shaped receiver 17, upper frame 24, runner fixing tube 25, fixing table 31 and the like are made of lightproof material, such as metal and the like, so as to prevent the light of the electric bulb 11 from escaping outside directly through the foregoing parts.

Now the function of the invention will be set forth hereinunder. When the electric bulb 11 is lighted, the air around it is heated by the electric bulb l1 and ascends, causing the runner 13 to gyrate. With the ascent of the air around the electric bulb 11 the outside air flows in toward the electric bulb 11 by way of the air passage 16 through the space 23, the said air being also sent upward by the heat of the electric bulb 11. In this way, the air constantly ascends inside the external tube 14 gyrating the runner while the electric bulb 11 is being lighted. By adjusting the aperture of the air passage 16 with the shutter 21 by means of the handle 38, the quantity of the ascending air which caused the runner 13 to gyrate can be controlled, and hence the number of the rotations of the runner 13 can be altered. The light from the electric bulb 11 is projected on the internal surface of the external tube 14 through the opening at the upper end of the tube 33 as illustrated by the dots and dashes 35.

The shadow of the runner 13 is projected on the external tube 14 on an magnified scale, the said shadow of the runner l3 rotating along the periphery of the external tube 14 according to the gyration of the runner 13.

When the shadow of the gyrating runner 13 is projected on the external tube 14, the moving shadow is visible from the outside, the external tube being semitransparent.

The external tube 14 being bent in zigzag according to its longitudinal folds, the light and shadow are refracted zigzag asthey move on by the irregularity of the external tube 14. Consequently, if each blade of the runner 13 is bent as indicated in FIG. 3 so that the shadow of the blade to be projected on the external tube 14 may be bent and inclined relative to the axis of the tube 14, the projected light and shadow will appear as if they were climbing up and down as they move along, the combination of the foregoing up-and-down movement and the zigzag movement owing to the irregularity of the external tube 14 creating an image as if flickering flames were flaring up. The foregoing effect is obtainable even when the electric bulb is colorless and transparent, but if a plurality of clockwise or counterclockwise helical stripes 36 are provided on the surface of the electric bulb 11 with lightproof painting material as indicated in FIG. 2, much more intricate movement and flickering of the light and shadow will be projected on the external tube 14 owing to the mutual interference between the shadows of the said stripes 36 and the shadow of the runner l3.

The same effect is obtainable by coveringthe colorless and transparent electric bulb 11 with a transparent or semitransparent cover 37 provided with clockwise or counterclockwise helical stripes 41 consisting of lightproof painting material.

By the use of an electric bulb of arbitrary beautiful coloration instead of a colorless one, the external tube 14 as well as the cover 37 being also of arbitrary coloration, a refined lighting fixture, wherein are combined the light, shadow, colors and movement, is obtainable.

As set forth above, the lighting fixture of the invention can project an image as if flickering flames were flaring up on the external tube by means of a very simple mechanism, the monotonous light of the electric bulb thus being changed into such a refined light that the effect of the lighting full of romantic atmosphere is easily obtainable from the lighting fixture of the invention.

The runner 13 being gyrated by means of the ascending air owing to the heat of the electric bulb 11, no special driving equipment is needed for the rotation of the runner 13, with the result that the lighting fixture of the invention is characterizing by the fact that the power consumption is remarkably small.

What we claim is:

1. A lighting fixture comprising a light socket, a frame on which said light socket is mounted, said frame having an aperture in the bottom thereof and having means for at least partially closing the aperture, a light bulb in said socket, a hollow unperforated opaque tube mounted on said frame and positioned around and spaced from said light bulb and extending to a position just above said light bulb, a bladed rotor rotatably mounted on said hollow tube above said light bulb and rotatable by the heated air rising through said tube around said light bulb, said rotor being positioned adjacent the top end of said hollow tube for interrupting the light radiating from said bulb, and an external tube of semitransparent material mounted on said frame having the lower end around and just below the upper end of said hollow tube, said external tube having substantially vertically extending sides which are bent zigzag along folds extending vertically along the tube, whereby the light radiating from the light bulb through the rotor produces a flamelike flickering light which appears to ascend along the external tube.

2. A lighting fixture as claimed in claim 1 in which said light bulb has a plurality of opaque helical stripes thereon.

3. A lighting fixture as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a cover for said bulb which is at least partially transparent and having a plurality of opaque helical stripes thereon. 

1. A lighting fixture comprising a light socket, a frame on which said light socket is mounted, said frame having an aperture in the bottom thereof and having means for at least partially closing the aperture, a light bulb in said socket, a hollow unperforated opaque tube mounted on said frame and positioned around and spaced from said light bulb and extending to a position just above said light bulb, a bladed rotor rotatably mounted on said hollow tube above said light bulb and rotatable by the heated air rising through said tube around said light bulb, said rotor being positioned adjacent the top end of said hollow tube for interrupting the light radiating from said bulb, and an external tube of semitransparent material mounted on said frame having the lower end around and just below the upper end of said hollow tube, said external tube having substantially vertically extending sides which are bent zigzag along folds extendIng vertically along the tube, whereby the light radiating from the light bulb through the rotor produces a flamelike flickering light which appears to ascend along the external tube.
 2. A lighting fixture as claimed in claim 1 in which said light bulb has a plurality of opaque helical stripes thereon.
 3. A lighting fixture as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a cover for said bulb which is at least partially transparent and having a plurality of opaque helical stripes thereon. 